


Trouble in Paradise

by Atom_of_the_black_lagoon



Category: Star Trek, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: AU, Adult Themes, Also SakuraXTomoyoXSyaoran, Captain Yuuko, Fake Marriage, Fake Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, KuroFai Olympics, KuroFai Olympics 2019, M/M, Mild Angst, Sci-Fi, Star Trek AU, Team Space, but I didn't want to put that in the relationships since it's not talked about much, i just wrote it a Star Trek episode, minor injury, planets with hats, sex mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-18 19:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20318533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atom_of_the_black_lagoon/pseuds/Atom_of_the_black_lagoon
Summary: 2019 KuroFai Oplympics [Team Space] (Fake Relationship)This is a KuroFai Star Trek AU. I just wrote a Star Trek episode. It was fun. Let me know what you thought.





	Trouble in Paradise

Fai picked his flan up from the replicator and set it on his lunch tray. After pressing a few more buttons, he watched a croissant sandwich materialize and set it down next to the flan. He moved away from the replicator to let the next person in line get their lunch. Walking swiftly towards the door, he gracefully avoided all the other lunch patrons in the mess hall who had found their seats and were noisily talking. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a few other medical officers gathering at one of the tables. They looked his way, but before they had time to invite him over he turned and ducked out the door, pretending not to have seen them.

The mess hall was only 2 corridors over from the medical bay, so Fai was hoping he wouldn’t run into anyone on his way back to his office. His hope was soon dashed as he saw ship's Chief Security officer, Kurogane Suewa, approaching. Kurogane was very good at his job, but had earned a reputation for being cold and bad-tempered. He was reading a PADD as he walked and only looked up when he saw Fai out of the corner of his eye.

“We have a briefing in an hour,” Kurogane said to him sternly before looking right back down at the PADD.

“Wow, time sure flies when you’re having flan,” Fai quipped, shifting his tray slightly so as to give his dish of flan a little jiggle. Fai grinned widely at Kurogane as he delivered his lame joke, hoping to earn a groan or at least a huff, but Kurogane hadn’t waited for him to finish his joke and started walking away the moment Fai opened his mouth.

Fai turned around and watched him leave. It’s sure gonna be fun spending 3 days with Mr. Grumpy, Fai thought, not sure if he was looking forward to their upcoming mission or dreading it.

He finished his short walk back to the peace and quiet of his Med Bay. The starship Endurance was not one of Starfleet’s warships; it was an exploratory vessel full of scientists and families. As the Chief Medical Officer Fai was responsible for all of their well-being, so an empty Med Bay meant that he was doing his job. It also meant that he could eat his lunch in peace. He walked into his office and set his tray down at his desk, pulling up his desk station to get some final paperwork done before the mission.

After a few moments, the doors swished open. He couldn’t see who had come in, but he heard a familiar humming. Fai smiled to himself, knowing that was Sakara’s way of announcing her presence. He took another bite of his sandwich as she made her way back to his office. She knocked on the door frame and smiled sweetly at Fai, trill spots peeking out from under her hair and blue dress uniform swishing as she walked over to sit down in front of his desk.

“All set?” Fai asked. As Chief Medical Assistant, Sakura would be in charge while Fai was on the away mission.

“I think so,” She said, “but I would like to run over the checklist with you if you have time.” Fai nodded. Sakura pulled out a PADD and ran through the list of crewmen who needed follow-ups during the few days that Fai would be gone.

“That should be everyone. You really don’t need to be nervous, you’ve got this well in hand,” Fai said reassuringly. “In fact, I’m sure the crew will enjoy having you in charge without me around. I might come back to find that you’ve taken my job!” he joked.

Sakura laughed and put her PADD down on the desk before turning back to Fai with a serious expression. “Are you sure you’ll be alright on this mission?” she pointedly asked Fai.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be? It’s just an away mission.” Fai said, dismissing her concern as he dipped his spoon into the flan.

“True, but it’s diplomatic mission. You’ll be constantly surrounded by people.” As she spoke, Fai could feel his shoulders tensing at the thought of it. He looked down at his food to avoid letting Sakura see the grimace on his face. “You probably won’t have a single meal alone the whole time,” she said, gesturing to his lunch and with a knowing look.

Fai plastered a smile back on his face before looking back up at her. “I delivered Ktarian triplets with no complications. I think I can handle a diplomatic mission.” His fake confidence always convinced Sakura. She seemed satisfied with his answer.

“We’ll hold the fort down here,” She reassured him. “Take care of Tomoyo, ok?” Fai nodded gently. “I’ll let you enjoy your last moments of solitude,” she said teasingly as she walked out of his office, pressing the button to close the door behind her.

* * *

As Fai walked into the briefing room, Kurogane and Tomoyo were already sitting in the high backed chairs at the long table. Fai took a seat on the other side of Tomoyo, smiling politely. "I was glad when Sakara said you would be going as well. I imagine being an empath would be particularly helpful in missions like these."

"Yes, though I get the feeling this mission is going to be particularly interesting from my point of view!" she said as she giggled. A small scoff escape from Kurogane. Fai wasn’t sure what she meant by that and was about to ask when the door slid open. Captain Yuuko walked in followed by 2 other security officers, Ryu and Primera, as well as their Warp Field Engineer, Mokona hopping in behind them. Yuuko wore her dress uniform with her hair pulled back in an intricate style.

Yuuko approached the screen embedded in the wall as the others settled into seats around the table. She wasted no time in getting straight to the point.

"I'm sure the rumors have circulated enough for you to know what this mission is." She glanced around the room as most of the crew exchanged knowing looks. A few people were even smirking. Fai had read most of the mission briefings, but he wasn’t sure why everyone was acting so strangely. There had been so many medical specific documents to read that he hadn’t reached the cultural section of their away mission summary, but he couldn’t imagine what could would be so unusual about the planet they were visiting as to reduce the rest of the crew to schoolchildren.

"First contact!" She said, raising her voice. Everyone stopped smirking. “First contact is a very serious matter,” she repeated more calmly this time, confident she had regained control of the room. “While the inhabitants of this planet may be quite ... unusual, this is still a first contact situation and should be approached with the same gravity as any other mission. That being said, this is not the first time they are learning about our presence which will make this situation unique.” She docked the PADD into the wall and the screen illuminated, Federation report coming into view. “We will be visiting the Bo’trotian people. They are a spacefaring civilization with technology as advanced as our own. They are part of the TRT alliance, which is already on good terms with the Federation. The Bo’trotian already know of us but this will be the first time we’ve met any of them. Our mission was arranged by a TRT contact who has given us quite a bit of detail on the Bo’trotian.” The report continued to scroll as satellite images of the planet’s surface loaded. “It’s a very green planet, not unlike parts of Earth or some of your own home planets,” Yuuko added gesturing to the non-human crew members present. “They are ... very friendly people.” Several crewmembers snickered in reply. “In fact,” she continued, “by our standards, perhaps too friendly. Our TRT contact says they are very peaceful and would never insight conflict, however, he did warn us there have been some misunderstandings and inadvertent conflict due to the unique culture of this particular civilization. Apparently, they have no sense of personal space. They are a very physically intimate people and, while they don’t mean any harm or aggression by it, it isn’t always well received by visitors, which is why they felt the need to warn us about these cultural differences.”

The giggles around the room continued and even Yuuko cracked a grin. Fai, however, felt the blood slowly drain from his face as he kicked himself for not reading the cultural section. His shock and dismay would have to wait until later. He tried to fake a smile so no one would notice but, as he looked around, he saw Kurogane’s stern but clearly concerned face looking back at him. Was he that transparent?

Yuuko continued, “Having a strategic ally this far out in the Alpha Quadrant would be helpful, so we will need to do our best to establish a friendly relationship that we that we can rely on in the future.” She made eye contact with each member of the crew that sat before her, “And on this mission you have my permission to be as friendly as you would like.” She smirked at Ryu and Primera in particular as their faces turned flush with the blatant acknowledgment they had only been invited on this mission because they were comfortable with the idea of having intimate relations with the locals. Fai felt his stomach turn.

“However, there is some inherent risk. Fai, I gave you the Bo’trotians’ bio profile. Did you see anything to be concerned about?”

Fai tried to regain his composure as he took out his PADD. “Well, I was looking more for contagious diseases rather than veniral ones...” He scrolled through the bio profile again. “But there shouldn’t be anything here we can’t treat.” He tried to control the slight quiver in his voice, but Tomoyo was looking at him with furrowed brows. It looked like hiding his discomfort was going to be a lost cause around her. “Yeah, they should be fine,” He told Yuuko without looking up.

As if on queue, Tomoyo spoke up. “Captain, is there a way for us to politely turn down advances? Or a way for us to indicate that we don’t want quite so much.... contact on this first contact mission?”

Yuuko laughed at Tomoyo’s pun, but nodded. “Yes, I did ask that of TRT contact. The Bo’trotians apparently do desire to respect people’s wishes. They simply have no concept of personal space and no scale for how much space is considered polite for humans. She said that within the alliance the Bo’trotians have agreed that symbols of mateship will generally be enough to keep them from direct advances. Such symbols should serve as a respected way to establish your own boundaries as long as you are clear and explicit about what those should be.” She nodded at Tomoyo. “Sakura’s engagement ring should be enough as long as we explain that you have a mate back on the ship. As for the rest of you, feel free to make something up if you want. If you turn them down without the excuse of mateship, it might be construed as direct dislike. In this case we can condone a white lie to avoid that.” Fai looked at Yuuko’s hands and noticed she was wearing not so much as a scrap of jewelry. He felt a lump in his throat, realizing exactly why the Federation chose to send the Starship Endurance on this mission.

“The other key goal of this mission is to represent the Federation and give the Bo’trotians a good idea of how large and diverse a community the Federation really is,” she continued. “I don’t know of any non-humanoid species in the TRT alliance, which is much smaller than the Federation, so Mokana, you may be the first non-humanoid species they have ever seen.”

“This would not be the first time for Monoka,” she replied, standing up on her toes to lean onto the table excitedly. “Mokona is honored to be a representative for non-humanoids! Mokona will try her best!”

Yuuko gave Mokona an appreciative nod before turning to Fai. “And Fai, your ears should be a dead giveaway so don’t hide them. Same for you, Ryu: no need to hide your Xahean features. Tomoyo, your eyes won’t be enough to distinguish you from us humans, so feel free to show off your empathic skills as much as you want. I want it to be clear that even though our ship has more humans than any other species, we aren’t in the majority and the Federation is a true collaboration between all of the planets that comprise it.”

She stood up and removed the PADD from the wall. “Pack enough clothes for 3 days and grab a ring, or pendant, or something if you don’t want to be the object of quite as much affection.” She smirked as she spoke. It was clear that Yuuko had no intentions of donning any such symbols of mateship. “Meet in Teleporter Room C at 1300.”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, most of them had arrived at the teleporter with their bags, waiting on Mokona and Yuuko. Fai had pulled his hair half back to expose his long pointed ears and was rummaging through his little jewelry pouch to find a suitably large and eye-catching earring to serve as his symbol of mateship. His taste in jewelry was fairly understated so he wasn’t finding anything that would be loud or garish enough to pass as a wedding earring among his own people. He was beginning to panic when he felt Tomoyo lightly touch his shoulder. He practically jumped and turned to face her, as he attempted to control his breathing.

“Fai,” she said gently, trying to calm him down, “it doesn’t have to be from your own culture. You can just grab a ring or bracelet or something.”

“Uh...” Fai mumbled in response as he went back to rummaging for any piece that would work. He pulled out a lacy, delicate white chain from his bag, but he had no pendent to wear on it. He held it out for Tomoyo to see. “Do you think this will be enough?”

She frowned. “I don’t really know what they would consider ‘enough,’” she admitted hesitantly.

“Here,” Kurogane said from behind Fai. He reached into his bag and flipped something at Fai, who caught it reflexively. He opened his hand to reveal an iridescent black ring with intricate patterns carved into it. Fai quickly slipped it on but his finger was far too slender. The ring immediately began to slide off his finger to land in the palm of his other hand.

“Oh, put it on the chain!” Tomoyo said as Yuuko walked in, followed closely by Mokona.

Yuuko turned to address the room. “Glad everyone made it on time. We’ll be teleporting down to their international consulate, which I’m told is quite lovely. I’ll lead contact. Prepare for transport!”

“Two groups please.” Syaoran directed from behind the teleporter’s control board as Yuuko stepped onto the pad.

“Tomoyo,” she called, and beckoned for Mokona to hop into her arms.

“Have fun Tomoyo!” Syaoran called as he punched in the coordinates. “And be safe, all of you,” he said. His smile morphed into his characteristic worried face as he spoke.

“We’ll be fine,” Tomoyo reassured him. “Take care of Sakura for me!”

He nodded and initiated the teleport. The first group dematerialized as the rest of the away teams prepared for their own departure.

Fai’s hands shook as he tried to string the ring onto the chain and fasten it around his neck. He was grateful for the extra few minutes it took for the first group to teleport down. Soon enough it was his turn. He straightened his back and took a few deep breaths as the teleporter room faded from view, and another room came into being before his eyes.

It was a large dome with high-vaulted ceilings and windows covering the whole structure. Below him, bright, patterned tiles covered the floor. Large plants lined the room with lush, green leaves and flowers reflecting every color of the rainbow. Warmth and humidity hit Fai in the face, followed closely by a sweet and delicate floral scent. For a moment Fai was so taken aback by the grandeur and beauty of the space that he forgot his anxiety. Through the windows the sky showed a mix of brilliant blue and light lavender dotted by fluffy clouds and white lines that Fai quickly realized were thin, delicate birds, floating in warm updrafts.

“Welcome! Welcome to you, Federation!” Fai’s exultation in his surroundings was cut short by a voice coming from the other side of the room. In walked a tall person with a thick beard and fluffy dark hair. He wore a loose-fitting white smock with nothing on under it and no shoes on at all. He was followed by an even taller person who was clean shaven, and had even fluffier hair. The taller one was also wearing a smock, but under it wore a pair of white pants and sandals. The smocks were almost sheer and, while Fai assumed their clothing protected them from natural elements, the material did not leave much up to the imagination.

“We are so happy to have you on our planet!” the bearded one, who Fai assumed was male, boomed in a melodious voice. He immediately embraced the much taller Yuuko. “I am Solat, the ambassador to the TRT Alliance!” he said without letting go of Yuuko. Solat rubbed Yuuko’s back and swayed gently as a grandparent would with a grandchild. “We have so been looking forward to your visit!” Solat finally released Yuuko from the embrace, but pulled her in again and rubbed his whiskery cheek against hers. “You have come from so far away just to visit us, and we are so honored.” He pulled away and took Yuuko’s hand in his. “I hope this trip can be more than simply a diplomatic meeting of our peoples. Traveling through space for such great distances must be a wearying and draining endeavor. I hope this time with us can be rejuvinating to your bodies and souls!” Solat smiled, squeezing Yuuko’s hands.

“Thank you Solat,” Yuuko replied, seemingly unfazed by their physical closeness. “Your greeting is the warmest I’ve ever received on my travels and we are excited to meet you and your people. Your planet is beautiful and you are right, it is a welcome sight after spending much time in space.”

Solat smiled broadly at the compliments and couldn’t refrain from embracing Yuuko again before eventually pulling away to gesture toward the other Bo’trotian, who was busy embracing the rest of the crew. “This is Millic, she is our Head Minister.”

“The Federation has honored us so greatly by sending such lovely and beautiful people to visit with us!” Millic said as she squeezed Ryu, picking him up off the ground. “We have so much enjoyment and relaxation planned for you here!” She set Ryu down. He was already flushed, a silly, childish grin plastered on his face.

“I look forward to it!” he said, nodding at her and trying to look composed.

“AND YOU!” Millic said very loudly kneeling down in front of Mokona. “You are SO cute!” she squealed as she gently wrapped her arms around Mokona and pressed her face into Mokona’s soft fur.

Mokona giggled, “Mokona is very happy to be here!”

Fai felt himself freeze. These were kind people and they seemed well-intentioned, but every muscle in his body was rebelling against the thought of them touching him. It was all he could do to keep himself from bolting.

Tomoyo looked over at him, but didn’t have time to say anything before she was scooped up by Solat.

Fai’s face must have been betraying the horror he felt because Kurogane came to stand next to him. “Flourite.” He looked down at Fai with a grimace. “You can tell him you don’t want to be hugged.” Fai didn’t respond. He could barely hear Kurogane over his rapid breathing and the pounding of his own heart as he spiraled into uncontrollable panic.

Millic turned to them next. “Flourite,” Kurogane prompted, but Fai was unable to react and just stood there shaking.

Fai felt a heavy hand come to rest on his shoulder and heard Kurogane’s deep voice address Millic. “He’s in a mateship. So if you could please...”

“Oh yes, of course, I should have noticed the rings!” Millic interrupted. “So happy for you to have found lifelong love!” She grabbed both men’s hands and squeezed them before putting Fai’s hand in Kurogane’s. “I will be sure to tell the others that you are mates.” Millic nodded vigorously and moved on to the rest of the crew.

It was only in that moment that Fai looked over at Kurogane and realized the ring Kurogane had lent him was part of a matching set. The ring Kurogane was wearing on his hand was identical to Fai’s.

Their eyes met briefly as they glanced at each other. Kurogane’s face was equally shocked as he quickly let go of Fai’s hand and looked away.

The greetings continued for another 20 minutes. After Solat had greeted the rest of the crew, he came back to Yuuko and began to flirt shamelessly with her. She didn’t seem to mind though, and even reciprocated some of it.

Fai watched from behind Kurogane, horrified. Tomoyo looked over at him, sensing his discomfort. She walked over and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “Fai, are you going to be alright? ”

Fai tried to suppress the emotions he knew she was sensing, but failed. “I’m fine,” he insisted to Tomoyo, even though she could feel he was lying.

“You’re literally hiding behind Kurogane! Who is,” she turned to Kurogane, “ apparently your husband?”

Before she could say anything more, another Bo’trotian came in and spoke to Solat. The crew was then ushered into a corridor that was just as beautifully decorated as the domed chamber.

Millic and Solat showed them to a large circular lounge area with lined with doors. “Here is your home away from home!” Solat said. “We hope that you do find it to your liking. If you would like to, you can leave your bags here and we will meet with the rest of the consulate. They are eagerly awaiting your arrival. After that, we have dinner and...” Solat continued to fill Yuuko in on the schedule of the day as the rest of the crew set their bags down on the round, plush couches around the lounge area.

Fai sat his bag down next to Kurogane’s and leaned over to speak to him in hushed tones. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”

Kurogane just huffed and finished setting his things down.

Fai scrambled to think of a plausible excuse for his behaviour. “I suppose we can’t blame them for assuming a heartbreaker like yourself would be unattached.”

“Oh please, you’re just trying to hide that you’re terrified of being touched.” Fai’s eyes widened at being called out so blatantly. “You don’t need to make excuses for it. But you could speak up for yourself, ya know.” With that, Kurogane joined Yuuko and Solat across the room to hear the rest of the day’s schedule.

Tomoyo walked over to Fai. “You feeling any better?” She asked.

Fai gave her a confident nod even as he forced his mind to run through the medical contingency plans to keep from thinking about what the rest of the evening would hold.

Satisfied, she smiled at him. Teasingly, she said, “So, you and Kuro, huh? Mr. Lonely and Mr. Grumpy, you make quite the pair!” Fai sighed and shook his head. “Good luck keeping that up this whole time,” she said as Solat motioned for them to follow him towards the next location.

* * *

  
  
After that, they toured part of the capital. Their buildings were considerably different than those of Earth. They were all beautiful glass terrariums, connected to each other with long enclosed corridors. They saw the main capitol building, where they had originally arrived, as well as the state library and the grand dining hall where a state dinner was being prepared for later in the evening.

Everywhere they went, people crowded around to look at them, pointing and whispering. It’s better than trying to assault us, Fai thought as they left the corridor and entered the dining hall.

“We have invited the whole Global Assembly of Representatives to join us for dinner. All of the Ministers will be in attendance as well as they officals from each of the districts,” Solat explained, pointing to a long table of opaque glass that ran the length of the room. Rather than chairs, it was lined with low, colorful couches. There were servers already filling the table with unusual-looking fruits and pitchers of drinks.

“Oh, that reminds me, we made sure to include options for all of your dietary and religious restrictions. We are vegetarian but we do use the breast milk of animals in many of our dishes, so we’ve made sure to mark those accordingly so you can avoid them.”

“That’s very interesting,” Yuuko said. She had been in constant conversation with Solat throughout the tour, gathering information while showing keen interest in their culture and history, all the while with Solat’s hand around Yuuko’s waist. “Is it a historic tradition or is there a religious reason behind it?”

“It is a blend of things!” Solat seemed delighted by her question. “We do understand why other cultures have moved away from using milk as a food, but we revere our milk-producing creatures. They have a place of high honor in our society and are given the utmost care. We have found that milk is an indispensible form of protein for our people and we consider milk to be somewhat sacred as it represents the care and nourishment of the mother, poured from the teat of nature and generously given to us!” Solat continued even as Fai turned around and saw Ryu turning green at the thought of all that milk. Tomoyo also made a face, not because she was ethically opposed, but because she had an intolerance to the stuff.

After the tour was complete, they were led to a smaller reception room just outside the dining area. Yuuko stood with Solat and Millic near the entrance while the rest of the crew sat together near the back of the room, near the refreshments. Fai was getting himself a glass of water when Kurogane came up behind him. He leaned in too close for Fai’s comfort and whispered, “Just stand behind me and shake hands with people. Make sure that ring is visible.” Before Fai could turn around to ask what Kurogane was going to do, they heard an exuberant shout. The other dinner guests had begun to arrive.

It was a slow process. Every time an official would come in, the new arrival would hug and caress each and every member of the away team as well as every other Bo’trotian in the reception room. Then they proceeded to the dining room, where Fai assumed they hugged each and every person in that room as well. Yuuko and Solat were at the front of the room greeting the guests as they walked in. Everyone admired Yuuko’s long black hair and her height and trim figure. They seemed especially eager to caress and touch her, the other women in particular, but Yuuko seemed to be enjoying herself. Millic came over to stand next to Ryu and Primera, with her arms wrapped around them as they embraced the rest of the Global Assembly one by one as they arrived. Behind them, Mokona stood on a stool next to Tomoyo. Everyone that came in was so taken with her fluffy fur and long ears. Some people picked her up and squeezed her as she squealed in delight. Tomoyo permitted the hugs and hand holding. She even permitted some cheek kisses, but drew the line at mouth kisses, pointing to the little ring on her finger. People seemed to be very accepting of it and squeezed her hand, telling her how beautiful she was and how lucky her mate was.

Kurogane and Fai stood right before the doors to the dining room. Kurogane stood in front and greeted the guests with a serious voice, introducing himself in the same formal manner he would to a Starfleet admiral.

“Greetings. Kurogane Suwa, Chief Security Officer on the Starship Endurance.” He saluted as he spoke.

Despite the gravity of his greeting, each guest still embraced him fully, running their hands down his back and up through his hair.

Before they had the chance to kiss him, he interrupted, turning slightly to gesture behind him at Fai. “As this is my mate, Fail D. Flourite, Doctor on the Starship Endurance.”

With the first guest, Fai had extended his hand for a simple handshake, but was pulled in for a full hug anyway. There was no petting or caressing, but Fai felt every muscle in his body seize up in sheer panic nonetheless. The moment the representative let him go, Kurogane reached out in front of him, providing Fai coverage as he tried to slow his breathing down.

Fai didn’t make that mistake a second time. After Kurogane finished introducing himself, Fai stepped just behind and to the side of Kurogane, grabbing onto the back of his uniform and pushing close to him so there wouldn’t even be enough room for the guest squeeze in and get their arms around him. He felt pathetic clinging to Kurogane like that and could only imagine what the man thought of him in this moment, but it was still better than enduring the forced physical contact that this culture seemed to think nothing of.

It took almost 2 hours for all the guests to arrive and be greeted. Afterward, the crew was shown into the dining room and seated on in various spots around the long table. Kurogane and Fai were shown to a couch that already looked quite full. They sat down where they were instructed, squeezing themselves onto the couches. The other Bo’trotians scooted down to make room for them but they were still packed in very tightly. Millic sat down at the head of the table and formally welcomed everyone. She gave a short speech about how honored they were to have delegates from the Federation visiting them, and about the peace and prosperity their union would bring both groups. After the speech, everyone began eating and talking. Since Kurogane and Fai had already been introduced as mates no one tried to hug them, but the Bo’trotian to Fai’s right, the Minister of the Economy, if he remembered correctly, did take Fai’s hand and cradled it to his face.

“You have such soft skin!” he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek against the back of Fai’s hand. “And so pale! You must be from a planet that is cold where the sun does not shine!”

Fai delicately attempted to recover his hand. He quickly grabbed his glass so as not to seem rude. “Ah, yes,” he said, trying to recover his wits. “I am a Celestial. It is quite cold there most of the year, with snow almost year round.”

“Oh my!” The Economic Minister said in dismay. “That sounds quite difficult! Although, if you’ve grown up with it, I suppose you would be somewhat accustomed to it! I wonder, how did you grow crops there?” He he reached out to stroke Fai’s light hair.

The question made sense coming from the Minister of the Economy, but it threw Fai for a loop. He was so disconcerted by the minister’s fawning that he struggled to concentrate. “We use greenhouses and underground arboretum for most of the year, but we also cultivate a type of fast-growing wheat during the short summer.”

As he spoke, he ventured a glance over to the other side of Kurogane. There was another Bo’trotian leaning on his arm, resting her head on his shoulder and asking him about his job.

“We also have quite a few salt-water oceans that we harvest a great deal from.” Just about the time he finished, he felt the Minister's hand let his hair go and reach down to stroke his long, pointed ears. He let out a yelp and pulled away.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” The Minister exclaimed. “As I'm sure you’ve found out, we Bo’trotian have no sense of other culture’s personal space!”

His yelp had earned the attention of Kurogane, who was now leaning over to give a very stern look at the Minister.

“My apologies to your mate as well!” he said, addressing Kurogane. “I did not mean any disrespect.”

“None taken,” Kurogane said, trying to soften his expression.

“Speaking of which,” the Bo’trotian on the other side of Kurogane said, “please please tell us how you met! To have a mate from another species must be so exciting!” She said, pressing herself against Kurogane’s side. Fai could see the red creep onto Kurogane’s cheeks as the question was asked. Fai decided it was his turn to save the day and thought up the most romantic lie he could.

“Oh Kuro-chan here saved my life!” He said in a sweet and sincere voice. Both Bo’trotians audibly gasped and leaned in further. “Yes, we were on a mission to save a princess from a devious political plot. She was a very powerful Trill and carried the memories of a hundred generations. There was an evil king from another world who wanted to steal her memories and use them for his own devious purposes. Kuro-chan and I were both sent on the rescue mission. While on the mission we encountered a powerful being with technology so advanced that, to us, he seemed to be using magic. He put me into a trance and tried to do the same to Kuro-chan, but he was strong enough to resist it. He defeated the wizard and saved me from the trance.”

The other two Bo’trotian were so moved by Fai’s made up story that they were nearly in tears. “Did you save the princess!?” The Minister asked.

“Yes, we did. We were able to get to her before the evil king slew her.” Fai said, matter of factly.

“Oh, that is so romantic!” The Bo’trotian on the other side of Kurogane exclaimed. “Did you take him back to your ship and make sweet tender love to him?” She asked Kurogane in a sincere tone.

This time both of them blushed furiously. Fai recovered and answered for Kurogane, “Yes, he did! I married him only 3 months later,” he said, lifting up the ring on the necklace to show them.

Both of the Bo’trotian nodded emphatically. “I can certainly see why! My goodness, what exciting lives you must live traveling out in space like that!”

The conversation moved on to discussing what Starfleet and the Federation were like, which was their whole purpose in being here. After a few dishes were served, they heard the ring of a bell. The Bo’trotians next to them got up and were swiftly replaced by another set of delegates. The whole time, Kurogane kept his arm firmly wrapped around Fai’s shoulder so they wouldn’t be separated. They repeated the process 3 more times before dinner was over. Each time, Fai had to endure a new round of what he viewed as deeply intimate physical contact. Kurogane kept a close eye on him, even blocking one of the more aggressive Bo’trotian from touching his ears again. While the food was delicious, Fai hardly ate any of it. The knot in his stomach and prolonged discomfort and anxiety killed his appetite.

Finally after almost 4 hours of food and conversation, Millic announced that their guests would be retiring for the night. There was a general groan of disappointment and Millic had to reassure everyone that the crew would be staying for another few days and there would be ample time to get to know their guests.

* * *

By the time Fai finally walked through the door of their room, he felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion. He looked around the room for a place to collapse. Oh, of course, he thought, seeing the one large circular bed in the middle of the room. There’s only one bed! Kurogane followed him into the room and set his bag down by the door. The bed was sat right in the middle of the room, clearly the focal point. It was a perfect circle covered with a plush red duvet, topped with a pile of colorful pillows. Kruogane walked over to a strange-looking flower on the nightstand, which turned out to be a lamp, and turned it on, bathing the room in a soft peach glow. Fai dropped his bag on the floor and fell headlong right into the bed. Some of the pillows tumbled onto the tile floor. Fai retrieved a few and pulled them up towards him. They smelled wonderful, having the same floral scent that most of the local terrariums. This planet would be so wonderful if it weren’t for the people who lived here, he thought to himself. A pang of guilt followed. It’s not the people who are the issue here, it’s me. Before he could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by Kurogane.

“Are you physically incapable of standing up for yourself?” he demanded. It sounded somewhere in between an accusation and a genuine question.

Fai turned his face further into the pillow. There was no way he was going to talk to Kurogane about this, but he also felt terrible. Kurogane had been the one to save Fai so many times today and probably deserved an explanation.

“I know you’ve got some baggage or whatever from your past, but this is Starfleet! We don’t put people in danger, physical or mental. You should have told us! We could have taken you off the mission or at least worked something out with Solat.”

Fai looked up at Kurogane. That is his job after all. “I’m not in danger or anything,” He responded, attempting to downplay the situation.

“I’m pretty sure you had a full-on panic attack when we got here.” Kurogane’s eyebrows furrowed even further than they already were. “You tell me, you’re the doctor! Does that seem healthy to you? Does that seem safe? Would you be ok with that if it was anyone other than yourself?”

Fai propped himself up on his elbows. “I’m fine, Kurogane.” His voice was sharper than he meant it to be.

Kurogane huffed. “You’re so full of shit.” He turned and opened the little door that led to the bathroom.

After the door closed, Fai rolled over and sat up. “Love you too, honey,” he snapped at the bathroom with a tinge of sarcasm. His face scrunched into a grimace. This has nothing to do with you, he thought before flopping down and curling back up onto his side.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence he was able to admit that Kurogane was right. He would never allow another crew member to continue a mission in this state. But the thought of explaining himself to Yuuko or Kurogane and being vulnerable was almost worse than all those people touching him. The knot he felt in his stomach grew tighter as tears started to well up in his eyes. Then he remembered all of the unwelcome contact he had experienced throughout the day and the tears threatened to overflow. He reached up and touched his ear where the Minister of Economy had caressed it, and flashbacks of his home planet began to flood his mind, leaving him feeling out of control.

Mercifully, his downward spiral was interrupted by a manly screech from the bathroom. Fai jumped up and ran in to find Kurogane, completely naked, standing back up against the wall, wet and very shocked. Fai looked frantically around and quickly found the source Kurogane’s reaction.

Out of the ceiling flowed a dark red liquid that disturbingly resembled human blood. “It was regular water until just now!” Kurogane stammered. “It’s not blood, right?” He looked over at Fai for confirmation.

Fai reached his hand under the stream and scooped up a handful of the red liquid and brought it up to his nose, “Definitely not blood,” Fai said, sniffing the stuff. “I think it’s soap, maybe.” He rubbed his hands together and the substance lathered up nicely. “Yeah, I think it’s soap, but wow, I can understand the mistake,” he said in awe, letting it run through his fingers. It was the same viscosity and almost the exact same color as human blood.

“Hell!” Kurogane exclaimed.”That scared the crap out of me.” Suddenly realizing how naked he was, he grabbed a towel and covered his front. Fai had already seen everything there was to see and smirked slightly at Kurogane, seeing how he was no longer the one in a vulnerable position.

“I’ll go warn the other human crewmates about the wash cycle before they get an unpleasant surprise,” he said as he left the bathroom.

By the time he got back, Kurogane was fully dressed again and sitting on the edge of the bed with a PADD, looking over tomorrow’s schedule. “Everyone accounted for?” he asked without even looking up. He knew the answer was no.

“Yuuko is um... furthering diplomatic relations.” He chuckled.

“Saw that coming,” Kurogane commented.

“Ryu and Primera are both out there, but they’re tangled up with a little Bo’trotian on the couch.”

“Together?” Kurogane asked, looking up in surprise. Fai nodded. “That’s new. I thought they didn’t like each other much.”

“Well, that might change after tonight!” Fai said suggestively. “Tomoyo’s in her room and she laughed her ass off when I told her about the blood thing.” He smirked at Kurogane.

Kurogane shot him a glare and Fai just shrugged. “What about Mokona?” Kurogane asked.

“Mokona isn’t in her room, but Tomoyo told me not to worry about her.” Fai scrunched up his face with a snicker.

Kurogane gave him an equally confused look.

“I mean,” Fai said. “Medically speaking, it’s not really a problem, but ...”

  
“NOPE!” Kurogane yelled before Fai could go any further.

Fai laughed. “I’m sure she’s just eating every ounce of fruit in the whole of the capital. And ya know, I think these people might just let her.”

Kurogane rolled his eyes and turned back to the PADD. “We have to be up at dawn for some opening ceremony. That’s only 5 hours from now.”

Fai groaned. I’m going to be at the mercy of their grabby little hands so soon, He thought.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I’m going to turn in for the night.” Kurogane put his PADD down on the nightstand. He had changed into a tank top and a pair of shorts after the shower. Although he was no longer naked, his pajamas of choice also did very little to hide his physique. Fai found himself staring. Kurogane stood up and brushed the remainder of the pillows off the bed. He pulled at the blankets for a moment. “How the fuck are you supposed to sleep in these things?”

“I think the point is to have ravenous sex on it first.” Fai said with a flourish, watching him struggle with the circular bed. “Here.” He grabbed the blanket, pulling it sharply down until the glossy sheets underneath were revealed.

Kurogane huffed, but climbed in under the rounded covers. He snatched a pillow up from the floor and shoved it under his head, turning away and closing his eyes.

Fai stared at him for a few moments, spacing out from sheer fatigue. He wandered into the bathroom and decided he was too tired for a shower, opting to simply wash his face instead. As he let the water wash over face he was finally forced to confront the thought he had been avoiding. He would either have to sleep in this bathroom or share the bed. He took a long look at himself. His bangs had all fallen out of his hair clip and were now stuck to his wet face.There were bags under his eyes that would not recede within the next 5 hours, specially if he was just going to be lying awake the whole night.

He dried his face off and dug through his bag for his nightgown. By the time he walked out of the bathroom, Kurogane was already snoring lightly. He would have to check Kurogane’s sleep sinus alignment when he got back to the ship. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and laid the necklace and his badge gently down on the nightstand before pulling the covers back. He slipped his feet under them and forced himself to lay down. The sheets were cool and felt nice on Fai’s sore feet, but even that wasn’t enough to override the extreme discomfort of being in the same bed as someone else. The last person he had shared a bed with was his brother, and that had been more than 30 years ago. Fai cringed at the memory, forcing himself to think of other things. He grabbed the PADD that Kurogane had left on the nightstand and tried to focus enough to read.

After about 20 minutes, Fai had managed to calm himself down enough to turn the PADD off and curl up. He pushed himself to the very edge of the bed, but he could still feel the blankets rise and fall with Kurogane’s breathing. He felt awful. Their security officer may be grumpy and overly serious, but he really did care. He had lent Fai his ring and gone along with it when everyone assumed they were married. He tried to Fai from unwanted physical contact as much as he could. He had been nothing but considerate and kind in his own way. But Fai still couldn’t force himself to calm down enough to sleep in the same bed with someone else so near. He was so tired he could not hold his emotions in check and started to cry. He held himself there, silently sobbing, trying his best not to wake the man next to him. He felt so pathetic. None of the other crew members had any issue with this, why was he being so difficult? He was being a burden to Kurogane and he couldn't even admit it to him. Kurogane is right, he thought as he held himself to keep from shaking too much. I am a piece of shit.

He heard Kurogane stir and shift slightly in his sleep. Fai quickly pulled the covers back and got out of bed. He held still, watching Kurogane. The man just rolled over onto his stomach and sniffed a few times before stilling.

Fai found himself stared at black hair was pressed to one side, smooth, tan skin lit dimly in the soft light. He really is pretty when he’s asleep. Fai thought he watched him. I owe him for today. If both of us aren’t going to get a good night’s sleep, then I should at least let him get one. He grabbed a few pillows and walked into the bathroom, gently closing the door behind him. He sat down on the cold tile, trying to position himself in the least uncomfortable way. It was cold and still a bit damp, but he was alone.

* * *

By the time Kurogane opened the door to the bathroom, Fai felt like he had only gotten an hour or so of sleep. He sat up slowly, sore from the hard floor, as Kurogane walked in..

Kurogane just stared down at him. “Really?”

“Shut up,” Fai mumbled, slowly getting to his feet. He didn’t have the patience for Kurogane’s condescension so early. “I know, I knowwww. I’m a piece of shi--”

“I don’t understand why you don’t ask,” Kurogane interrupted. “I could have slept somewhere else.” They looked at each other for several long moments. Fai was still trying to wake up and it took him awhile to really focus on Kurogane’s face. To Fai’s surprise, it was wasn’t angry. He looked genuinely worried. “The next time you feel uncomfortable with something, tell me,” Kurogane said in a serious voice.

Fai tried to wave him off. “I’m fine. Really, I’m--”

“No. I can see that you’re not fine. I get that you don’t want to talk and that’s your choice. But we have to get through this. The Endurance won’t return until tomorrow. Either you start trusting me enough to tell me when you struggling, or I’ll take this up with Yuuko!” he said, furrowing his brows. He waited a moment for Fai to respond. When he didn’t, Kurogane sighed in frustration and turned to walk out of the room.

Fai grabbed his bag and changed into a fresh uniform. He leaned out of the bathroom door and grabbed his necklace and badge off of the nightstand before returning to the bathroom mirror. He looked at the ring for a long moment before slowly slipping it on his finger. He admired the craftmanship for a moment and slowly put his hand up to his face, practicing a fake a smile in the mirror. He looked even worse than he had the night before. His smile faded and was replaced by a grimace as he let his hand loosely drop, the ring slipping off of his finger to swing at the end of the chain tangled up in his grip.

He finished getting ready and walked out to face Kurogane, who still had a stern, expectant look on his face.

He heaved a deep sigh and nodded reluctantly. “Ok,” he finally agreed. “Fine. Yeah, I’ll let you know.”

* * *

A tour of one of the Bo’trotian moons and the grand opening of a new spaceport were scheduled for the morning. The away crew was quickly realizing that one of the Bo’trotian's main goals in this whole venture was tourism. Many Federation travelers would be entranced by the exotic destination planet, which would lead to strong economic ties between the two groups.

They took a suspended trolley car from the capital up to a large mountaintop station. From there, they transferred to a larger shuttle craft that ascended a hydraulic tube to the moon. The whole trip took only an hour and a half.

The moon itself had no atmosphere, but the Bo’trotians had built a fully enclosed network of terrariums and corridors all along the moon’s surface. As they docked, the shuttle doors opened to reveal the luxurious spaceport. The wide spacious halls were lined with plush couches and fragrant plants. The thick glass of the domes provided a breathtaking view of Bo’trot in all of its lush beauty. The whole team stopped and marveled at the sight, much to the pleasure of Solat and Millic.

Only a short way from the shuttlecraft station stood a large reception hall with a spread of food already prepared. As they walked in, the hugging and caressing commenced as they were greeted by the Minister of Transport.

Fai stood behind Kurogane, but couldn’t avoid a few embraces from their hosts. Lunch, however, went much better. No one attempted to touch his ears and he was able to eat. The delicious fare was sweet, fruity, and light. Fai felt refreshed after finally eating a proper meal. Halfway through the meal the Bo’trotians began switching seats again, giving another group access to the away crew. After the Minister of the Environment left Kurogane turned to Fai.

“I swear, if you tell that fake story about how we met one more time...” Kurogane growled threateningly, glaring at him.

“I’m only embellishing the truth a little,” Fai replied, in a dramatic tone. “We really did meet each other when we rescued Sakura and all of her Symbiant’s memories.”

“Yeah, from a medical emergency, not a fucking evil wizard. And a Princess? That’s just the cutesy nickname Syaoran and Tomoyo call her.” Kurogane said.

“Kuro-chan, we’re already flagrantly lying about our relationship, we may as well go all out!” Fai exclaimed, nodding with the confidence of someone who had been lying nonstop for the last day and a half.

Kurogane clearly wanted to continue the discussion, but it was abruptly interrupted by Bo’trotians sitting down on either side of them.

By now, both groups were getting more comfortable with each other. The crew knew the Bo’trotians’ true intention was simply the development of intergalactic tourism, and Yuuko had made it clear that the ultimate goal of the Federation was to have influence and a safe place to land this far out on the galactic arm. Thankfully, those two goals were wholly compatible. The crew no longer felt the need to be so formal and the Bo’trotians had stopped trying to extoll the good points of their planet and were mostly just curious about the crew’s travels. They asked questions about their daily lives aboard the spaceship: what they ate, wore, and other recreational activities. It was much more casual than it had been yesterday, which put both Fai and Kurogane at ease.

Fai looked around at the rest of the crew. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Solat sat in Yuuko’s lap at the head of the table, gazing up at her lovingly. Tomoyo was in an intense discussion of hyperwarp travel with one of the local spaceport pilots, and Ryu had his transmitter out to show a Bo’trotian pictures of his homeworld. Three Bo’trotian women crowded onto one couch, Mokona making herself right at home next to their ample bosoms. Maybe I was wrong about Mokona only being interested in their food? Fai thought, looking away from Mokona and trying to find Primera. She was nowhere to be seen but Fai could hear some suspicious sounds coming from an alcove off the dining room.

After everyone had finished lunch, they were given a tour of the spaceport. Although the Bo’trotians had the capability of faster than light travel, they weren’t nearly as adventurous as many of the species that made up the Federation. They preferred to stay in their own small corner of the galaxy and had developed strong alliances within the neighboring star systems. Fai gathered that they likely didn’t have the firepower to strike out on their own, which was just as well. He couldn’t imagine these friendly nice people combating with the likes of the Klingons or Romulans.

As the tour came to an end, Millic and Solat led them to a small corridor where a huge group of Bo’trotians were gathered. Fai had enjoyed the tour, but when he saw the dense crowd he could feel the color drain from his face. He ducked behind Kurogane again as they filed through the crowd to gather at the front of the hall. There was a small glass door, outside of which A small shuttle craft waited next to an adjoining passageway.

“This is one of the boarding terminals. Here our guests will disembark to enjoy all the wonders of Bo’trot.” Solat beamed with pride. “As our first guests from the United Federation of Planets, we ask that you do the honors of opening the boarding doors and officially opening this spaceport.”

Yuuko thanked him for his generosity and the honor and the crowd cheered. Final safety checks were made and then the crew gathered next to the small door leading into the corridor. Compared to the spacious halls from before, this one was quite narrow and packed to the brim with Bo’trotians, all cheering.

Fai stuffed himself into a sloping corner behind Kurogane). He clutched the back of Kurogane’s shirt and plastered on a fake smile for the crowd. Glancing back, Kurogane noticed the fear in his eyes despite the smile. They both looked to Yuuko, who was embracing and kissing Millic. A sharp hiss of air issued from the doorway as she turned and opened the door with a ceremonial flourish.

As soon as the door was fully open, the crowd erupted into cheers. In such a small corridor, it was nearly deafening. The Bo’trotians began jumping up and down, pulling anyone within arms’ reach into enthusiastic hugs while they continued to cheer. After a moment, they moved on to an unattached neighbor. Before he could do anything, Fai was separated from Kurogane by the jostling crowd and found himself held from behind by someone. He whirled around to extricate himself only to have more hands thrown around him as people continued to stroke, squeeze, and grab at him.

“Kurogane!” He yelled out, but it was drowned out by the defining crowd. “Please stop!” he managed to gasp, but no one heard him. Panic overwhelmed him as he continued to be spun and jostled down the corridor. He frantically pried at a pair of hands tangled in his hair. “Please no! Stop, PLEASE STOP!” he begged as tears filled his eyes. Jubilant Bo’trotians near him noticed his terror and looked on in concern as he stumbled back towards the wall. Those surrounding him no longer reached out to hug him, but the jostling of the crowd pushed them closer.

There was a slight ledge close to the floor and Fai was too distressed to notice it. He tripped and fell heavily into the wall, cracking his head as he tumbled to the floor. He whipped around to defend himself from the Bo’trotians, who were all instinctively reaching to help him up. “No, please don’t! Please don’t grab me. Please stop...” he whimpered through the tears that were now streaming down his face.

The crowd’s festivity had quieted a bit with the commotion his fall had caused, and now those around Fai could hear a deep roar. “Flourite? Where is Fai? Move, damn it!” They parted to let Kurogane through. “Fai!” he exclaimed, crouching down.

With a start, Fai realized everyone was staring at him. He looked frantically back up at Kurogane. “Get me out of here,” he pleaded, fighting the urge to throw up. Kurogane stood and offered him a hand up. Fai found himself nearly falling to the floor again as waves of dizziness overwhelmed his aching head. Kurogane reached out to steady him and half-led, half-dragged Fai out of the corridor and into the nearest bathroom.

Once the door was firmly shut and locked behind them, Kurogane released him. Fai fell to his knees and weakly scramble over to the toilet before vomiting. He heaved uncontrollably, his abdominal muscles contracting fiercely as he gripped the edge of the bowl with all of his strength. At one point he nearly blacked out from lack of air. After what seemed like an eternity, there was nothing left for his body to reject. He slumped with relief, gingerly cradling his aching head as he tried to catch his breath.

After a few moments he felt like he was able to breathe again , and glanced at Kurogane. He turned his face to look up at Kurogane. His eyes were wide with worry.

“Sorry, Kuro, I’m fi--” Kurogane’s expression snapped from worry to anger. Fai recalled their early morning conversation. He knew he should be honest, but felt deeply ashamed of his obvious weakness. He bowed his head and stared at the floor. “Ok, yeah. I’m not ok. I’m not ok...” His admission came out jumbled and slurred. Admitting it to Kurogane unleashed a new wave of panic and pain that he had been trying to suppress. He began to shiver uncontrollably. He was freezing on the cold floor. His head throbbed and his throat was raw.

“The back of your head is bleeding,” Kurogane stated matter-of-factly.

Fai‘s head jerked up in surprise, which only made the throbbing worse. He winced, and gently probed the back of his head with a shaking hand. His fingers came back covered in blood. “Oh. Fuck.”

“Here, tilt your head forward,” Kurogane instructed, grabbing one of the colorful towels near the sink before crouching down. Fai obliged, choking back a whimper as Kurogane gently held the towel to the base of his head. “The cut itself doesn't look like it’s very serious, but I think you might have a concussion.”

“Here, my tricorder is on my belt.” Fai reached down to unclip the device and hand it to Kurogane.

After scanning the back of Fai’s head, Kurogane read the list off. “Mild traumatic brain injury. Fatigue. Minor iron deficiency. Low blood sugar.”

“Shit,” was all that Fai could mumble. He felt himself go slightly weak; the weight of Kurogane hand on his head was too much and he started to sink. Kurogane wrapped his arm around Fai to steady him as his head sank onto Kurogane’s forearm.

“Sorry,” Kurogane muttered, wary of distressing Fai with further contact. “Let’s move you over here.” They stumbled over and Fai collapsed onto the small cushioned couch in the corner. Fai curled up onto his side and Kurogane repositioned the towel on the back of Fai’s neck.

“What happened?” Kurogane asked softly.

Fai didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I freaked out. Probably offended ... like ... everyone. Tripped over the stupidwall.”

“Do you think you can walk? I can ask Solat for a shuttle to take us back to the planet.”

“No. I can’t ask that. Not ... not after the scene I just caused.”

“Then as the doctor, you fucking tell me what we should do in this situtation.”

Fai went quiet. He knew what the answer was, but was reluctant to admit it. “Fine. We should go back to the rooms.” Kurogane could still see tears of frustration falling down his cheeks.

“If they are going to be a tourist trap they need to learn this damn lesson early. Not everyone likes being smothered.” Kurogane’s tone was harsh, but Fai knew could tell the anger it wasn’t directed at him. “Idiots.”

They sat quietly for a few moments until Kurogane angled the towel back to check Fai’s head. “I think the bleeding stopped.” As he gingerly parted Fai’s hair for a more thorough examination, there was a soft knock on the door accompanied by Tomoyo’s worried voice.

“Fai, Kurogane? Are you all right?”

Kurogane leaned over and unlocked it. Tomoyo entered. Kurogane’s expression hardened once more as Solat followed her into the room.Tomoyo rushed over to Fai.

“Oh you poor thing. I’m so sorry!” Solat exclaimed as he started toward Fai. His movement was stopped short as Kurogane stepped between them.

“It is a minor concussion and he will be fine. It would be best if we could obtain passage back to our room. He needs to rest.”

“Oh course.”

* * *

Once aboard the shuttle back to the planet, Fai collapsed onto one of the plush seats. The horrible combination of sleep deprivation, vomiting, and hitting his head had left him feeling awful. He felt even worse on an emotional level. He had panicked in front of a full diplomatic delegation and had been pathetically weak in front of Kurogane. He was sure he would get hell from Yuuko for his unprofessional conduct. He had likely insulted their hosts and was monopolizing the attention of their only available security officer.

Kurogane sat down next to him, momentarily pulling him out of his introspection. Fai looked up at him. Kurogane was scanning the rest of the tram for other passengers and identifying all exits.

Fai couldn’t help but noticing the way he looked. His black hair fell down around his round, human ears. Fai could see the spot next to his ears where he stopped shaving his facial hair. There were slight lines on his forehead from how often he furrowed his brows. His tanned skin wrinkled at the corners of his eyes, and were hints of strain and fatigue in his gaze. They had been sitting right next to each other for the last two days, but this was the first time Fai was truly noticing Kurogane.

Kurogane turned to brief him in hushed tones. “We should be ok here. There are some others on this shuttle, but they are in a different section. How are you feeling?”

Fai’s opened his mouth to speak and slowly closed it again. His first instinct was to hide and say he was fine, but he didn’t want to be berated again. He simply shook his head. He knew that if he was honest, he would start crying again but he didn’t want to lie to Kurogane anymore either.

Kurogane accepted the gesture and pulled out his communicator. Fai knew he was probably messaging Yuuko, but he didn’t have the energy to care about what they would say about him. With a small jerk, the shuttle started moving. It had good gravity correction, so their take off was smooth. Fai leaned back and let his head sink back into the deep cushion of his chair. He was exhausted and still trembling from the events at the spaceport. After a few moments of stillness, he noticed how cold he was and the shivering intensified. Kurogane looked up from his communicator.

“Here,” he said as he stood up slightly. “I think there are little blankets or something in the overhead.” He reached up to the little luggage shelf above them and pulled down a thin colorful sheet. He sat back down and spread it over Fai. “Hopefully that will help.”

It was thin, but it did help. What helped more was Kurogane’s closeness. Fai huddled closer as the warmth from the man next to him seeped into the sheet.

“Ya know, I call you Mr. Grumpy, and you are.” Kurogane scoffed slightly. “But ... you are also ... so kind.” Fai was probably making an idiot of himself, but he was too tired to care as he continued, “You’re just trying to take care of me ... even though I’m a mess right now.” Fai was mumbling now that the warmth and exhaustion were finally overtaking him. “Thanks ... and ... I’m sorry that I’m like this. I’m sorry that I can’t--”

Before he could finish Kurogane interrupted softly, “Everyone needs to be taken care of sometimes. It’s ok to rely on other people.”

Fai tried to finish his apology. “I’m still sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into--”

Kurogane turned to make eye contact with Fai. His stern expression softened when he saw Fai’s face. There was still no color in his cheeks and his eyes looked sunken and hollow. Dried blood matted parts of his hair and some had smeared around his neck. Fai looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He blinked slowly and his eyelids drooped over his dazed blue eyes. Kurogane unconsciously reached out to comfort his injured companion before letting his hand drop. “Fai, just shut up and go to sleep ok?” Kurogane turned around again and faced forward in his seat.

“Ok.” Fai said softly. His eyes drifted shut as he let his head sink into the warmth of Kurogane’s shoulder. He felt himself fully relax as the calming scents of tea and deodorant mixed with the wool from the uniform. The irony of the situation hadn’t escaped him; he had spent the whole day trying desperately to avoid being touched and had panicked when anyone did. Now he couldn’t manage to pull himself from Kurogane’s warmth. He opened his eyes briefly to see what Kurogane’s reaction would be. When there wasn’t any, he closed his eyes and let sleep settle over him.

* * *

An hour later, Fai felt Kurogane nudge him awake. “We’re here. Wake up.”

Fai slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head. Everything felt heavy and trying to move made him dizzy. Kurogane stood up and offered his hand to Fai. He took it and let Kurogane gently pull him from the seat. They made their way to the trolley and then from there back to their room.

Fai sat weakly on the bed and gestured to his luggage on the floor. “There’s a neural shock kit in my bag.”

Kurogane retrieved it and pulled out one of the tools as he walked over to the bed. “How do I use this?”

“You just have to run it slowly across the back of my head. Here.” Fai took the device, turned it on and dialed in the appropriate settings before handing it back to Kurogane. Fai leaned his head down to give Kurogane access and felt the urge to throw up again. As Kurogane started to make slow passes at the back of his head, Fai looked for something to distract himself. Staring down, he noticed the chain of his necklace was encrusted with blood in places. The ring itself was unscathed.

“I can’t remember whether I thanked you for letting me borrow your ring.” He brought it closer to his face. This was the first time he had really stopped to look at it. The iridescent black was punctuated with intricate carvings on the exterior and interior. “Are these words?” Fai asked, squinting to see the inscriptions.

“Yeah, they’re kanji. It’s an old Earth language.”

“Wow, no wonder I didn’t recognize it. They are so complex,” he said, admiring the craftsmanship. “If it’s that old then, oh...” Realization dawned on him. “Is this an heirloom?” Fai felt terrible for not realizing it before.

“Yeah. It was my mother’s.”

Fai’s eyes went wide. He was instantly grateful he hadn’t gotten any blood or vomit on it. He thought about what it must have meant for Kurogane to lend a coworker his own mother’s ring. Fai didn’t know much about Kurogane’s past besides that he had been born on Earth and had transferred to the Endurance with Yuuko when she took command. Fai was familiar enough with human culture to know that wedding rings were worn until a relationship ended or one’s partner died.

Kurogane completed the neural shock treatment and handed the device back to Fai, who glanced down at Kurogane’s hand. The ring he wore perfectly matched the one Fai held in is palm. “Was that one your father’s?” Fai guessed.

Kurogane nodded slightly. Fai decided it was best not to press any further. Normally Fai would feel uncomfortable about his life intersecting with someone else’s like that, but right now he was grateful to Kurogane. He mentally shuddered at what might have happened if he had not been wearing that ring. “Thank you for letting me borrow it,” he said softly.

Kurogane nodded again and held eye contact with Fai for a few moments. He was close enough that it felt uncomfortably intimate. Finally Kurogane spoke. “Your pupils don’t seem as dilated now.” Fai felt a tinge of embarrassment at not realizing what Kurogane had been doing as he stood up and pulled the blankets out from under Fai. He lay down as Kurogane pulled them back up to his shoulders.

“Go to sleep. I’ll go to the banquet tonight and tell them you aren’t feeling well. I have no idea how long the stupid thing will be, but I’ll bring some food back for you.” He headed out the door.

Once he was gone, Fai was left alone to grapple with everything that had happened this afternoon. His head still hurt a little, and he was too exhausted to get very far. He could figure it out later. For now, he would sleep.

* * *

When he woke up there was morning sunlight streaming through the windows. He rolled over and was greeted by a plate of food on the end table. As Fai sat up he felt a slight twinge in the back of head head, but otherwise felt fine. He looked around for Kurogane, but he didn’t seem to be around. He checked his communicator and found 3 missed comms:

Ryu: Can you catch a fever from alien sex??

Yuuko: Hope you are feeling better. We will need to debrief later.

Kurogane: Left you some food. I’m going to stay with Mokona tonight.

Fai found himself smiling at Kurogane’s comm, but it quickly vanished when he reread Ryu’s message. He hopped out of bed and hurriedly changed into clean clothes. When rushed out to their lounge area a few minutes later, he found Mokona sitting on one of the couches and sipping a vibrant fruit drink.

“Mokona, do you know where Ryu is?”

“FAI!” Mokona exclaimed, jumping up to stand tiptoe on the couch. “Are you feeling better? We were so worried!”

“Oh, yes, I’m feeling much better. I’m sorry I scared you. Do you know where Ryu is? I got this comm from him this morning.” Fai showed Mokona the message.

“Oh no!” Mokona exclaimed. She hopped off of the couch and over to a door at the end of the hall. Their knocking was answered by a low groan from the other side of the door.

“We’re coming in, Ryu,” Fai announced before opening the door.

Ryu was in bed, mercifully alone, and looked awful. Fai walked over and sat down at the foot of the bed, immediately taking out his tricorder to run a scan.

“You’re right, you do have a fever. You’re definitely sick,” Fai said. “But it’s not venereal. It looks like a virus.” He turned to Mokona. “Can you go check up on everyone else? We were all in very close proximity to the Bo’trotian.” Mokona nodded and hopped out of the room before calling for Yuuko.

Soon, Mokona had gathered the crew in the lounge area and Fai was walking down the line, scanning each person for the same symptoms he had seen in Ryu. Yuuko and Primera seemed fine, as well as Mokona. Both Tomoyo and Kurogane had elevated temperatures, and they were both looking tired and ragged. Fai quickly briefed Yuuko about the situation and quarantined his two new patients in Ryu’s room as well.

Seeing both Kurogane and Tomoyo escorted in, Ryu asked, “Wait, so this isn’t from all the sex I had?”

Kurogane gave him a glare but sat down on the bed anyway, resigned.

“No, I mean, I’m sure that’s how you caught it, but it seems to be an airborne pathogen. You could have just as easily contracted it from someone else. It’s likely the locals have immunity to this particular viral infection and wouldn’t have known to warn us.”

Tomoyo flopped down on the bed. “I’m so tired,” she groaned, wedging a pillow under her head. Within a few minutes she was fast asleep.

“How are you feeling?” Fai asked Kurogane. He was still sitting at the end of the bed, but he kept listing like his balance was off.

“I’m dizzy... and tired.” He said. “Is this ... serious? Are we in actual danger?”

“Hmmm, the ship is coming for us in a few hours, so likely not too serious. I’m still trying to isolate the virus in the samples I took from Ryu, but I don’t think it’s something that develops too quickly. He said his symptoms started last night and he’s still more or less fine. His body is doing a good job at combating the virus,” Fai said, never looking up from his tricorder. “Now... he is a Xahean and you are Human, so there might be some differences, but so far it’s seems pretty manageable. Once I isolate this bug I can generate a vaccine for the rest of us, but we will need to get you three into the Med Bay and target the virus itself with the biobeds.” Kurogane was no longer sitting up, but had curled up in place. He was awake and clearly trying to listen, but his eyelids looked heavy and his cheeks were flushed with fever. Fai looked down at the vulnerable security officer. Fai was a doctor and often saw people at their most vulnerable. But this felt different. Kurogane had been the one protecting him for the last few days. He had been so strong and steady, so patient with Fai. But now here he was with his head resting on the fluffy red duvet, blinking sleepily at Fai with mesmerizing amber eyes. Fai had good bedside manners but there was some emotional comfort he had never been able to give. He didn’t need to--the tricorder gave a much more accurate reading. But this time he decided to anyway. Moving quietly so as not to wake the others, he gently laid his palm on Kurogane’s forehead. He was burning up. Kurogane closed his eyes in relief.

“Your hand feels nice and cool,” he mumbled sleepily, leaning into Fai’s touch. Fai felt a lump in his throat and tried to swallow. He slowly turned his hand to rest the backs of his fingers on Kurogane’s cheek. For someone so tough, his skin was soft and delicate. Fai saw the corner of Kurogane’s mouth turn up as he sighed contentedly.

After a moment, Fai let his hand slip away slowly. A soft snore emanated from Kurogane. Fai smiled as he stood up from the bed and turned the light off.

* * *

A few hours later, Yuuko informed Fai that the ship was within transporter range. He slipped into Ryu’s room as quietly as possible. All three patients were still sound asleep. Fai gently crept over and affixed a comm badge on each person, activating them so the Endurance could lock onto their signals. Ryu stirred but didn’t wake up. Tomoyo blearily opened her eyes. “We’re headed back now,” Fai reassured her. She nodded and slowly sat up. Fai sat down next to Kurogane’s sleeping figure on the bed. He was still snoring lightly as Fai rested his hand on Kurogane’s shoulder. “Hey, Kurogane, wake up,” he said gently, knowing that the man wouldn’t want to be asleep for the return trip. He already had his badge on him so all Fai had to do was activate it. He smiled down as Kurogane’s eyes opened slowly. “How you feelin’ Kuro-chan?”

He lay there for a moment, trying to force his eyes to stay open. “I feel like shit.”

“Well, then let’s head home,” Fai said and pressed down on his own badge. “Flourite here. Four ready for transport to the infirmary.”

Moments later they were greeted by Sakura in the Medical Bay. Kurogane, Tomoyo and Ryu were all transported directly onto respective biobeds.

Sakura ran over to Tomoyo’s side. “Are you ok?” she asked, clasping Tomoyo’s hand. “Fai, you said it was viral?”

“Yes,” Fai said. “And they seem to be fighting it pretty well on their own. I’ve isolated the viral DNA sequence so the biobeds can give their immune system some help.”

As he punched commands into the console, Sakara walked over to observe what he had entered. “Wait, whose ring is that?” she asked, gesturing to Fai’s necklace.

Tomoyo snickered from her biobed. “It’s Kuro’s. They’re married,” she informed Sakura, whose eyes widened further as she gaped at Kurogane and Fai.

Fai saw Kurogane crack a smirk. Fai smiled and shook his head. “I’ll explain everything after we get these three fixed up.”

* * *

A week later, everyone in the away team had fully recovered and resumed active duty. Fai was grateful things were finally back to normal. As he turned a corner on his way to the mess hall, he noticed Kurogane approaching from the opposite direction with a tray of food in his hand.

“How is the report coming?” Kurogane asked him. “Starfleet is hoping for the full case file by the end of the day.”

“I’m almost done. I’m just taking a quick lunch break before I finish up.”

Kurogane nodded in acknowledgement and started to walk off. Fai took another step toward the mess hall, but hesitated as he realized he didn’t want Kurogane to keep walking. “Um... If you want...” Kurogane paused and turned to face him. Fai continued, “You could come over to my office and read over what I’ve got written up,” he offered, feeling a bit stupid for the thin excuse.

Kurogane’s expression softened. It wasn’t a smile, but Fai thought he saw the corners of his mouth lift a little. “Sure, I’ll meet you there,” he said before turning and heading towards the Med Bay.

Fai hurried off to replicate his own lunch. He was embarrassed to find himself grinning widely at the prospect of his visitor. His isolated lunch breaks had been a source of solace for him, but today, he was looking forward to sharing it with Kurogane.


End file.
